Today’s notice: The Senate declines to “rubber-stamp” Donald Trump’s nominees. Lawmakers consider who could replace Pete Hegseth if his defense secretary bid flops. And the House gives its stamp of approval to post office names — literally.
A Not-So-Deferential Senate
Not long ago, there was a sentiment that Donald Trump’s dominant election win would earn him greater deference for his cabinet nominees from Senate Republicans — that they’d be more of a rubber stamp than a gatekeeper.
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In the month since the election, that hasn’t been the case. Trump diverged from comfy confirmations, like Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Elise Stefanik, to extremely controversial ones, like with now-former Rep. Matt Gaetz and Fox News host Pete Hegseth. Senators have somewhat shockingly resisted giving their blessing to Trump’s most contentious nominees — only promising open minds for a traditional confirmation process, which is itself a slight at Trump’s demands to allow recess appointments.
“The Senate takes its ‘advice and consent’ role seriously,” Minority Whip John Thune said when NOTUS asked on Wednesday about the nomination process.
Hegseth is emblematic of why. The Army veteran and former media host was accused of sexual assault in 2017, not to mention his multiple affairs and a problematic history with alcohol. He met with several senators to address the allegations, including Thune and Sen. Joni Ernst, on Wednesday.
Sen. Kevin Cramer said the scrutiny should be expected, regardless of who the president-elect is.
“I don’t think they should be surprised by it, nor do I think they should want us to be a rubber stamp, even — especially — our conservative friends who have a great affection, appropriately, for our Constitution and our founders who created [these] checks and balances on purpose,” Cramer said. “It was brilliant 250 years ago, and I think it’s brilliant today.”
—Ben T.N. Mause
If Not Hegseth, Who?
As Hegseth’s defense secretary bid circles one of those floor drains in the Senate basement, Republicans are already floating some potential replacements.
As we reported, Trump is weighing slotting in Ron DeSantis for the top defense job. And senators signaled to NOTUS’ John T. Seward and Em Luetkemeyer that they’re open to DeSantis. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, for one, said the current Florida governor — and recent Trump rival — has the administrative skills and military background to qualify.
But senators are also warm to their colleague, Ernst. We reported that Ernst has been sniffing around about her own prospects. As a female veteran and sexual assault survivor, she might just be the antidote to the Hegseth news cycle that has dogged the Trump transition. (She met with Hegseth yesterday but said conspicuously little about their conversation.)
Sen. Mike Rounds told NOTUS: “It helps to have somebody that you already know and have a comfort level with.”
But, then again, there are a number of lawmakers in the upper chamber who could meet that criteria…
Front Page
- Mike Johnson’s Forever Freedom Caucus Problem: The GOP’s far-right flank is again objecting to Johnson’s tentative funding plan.
- Trump’s Pledge to Immediately Expand Energy Exports Could Hit an Early Snag: Republicans are teeing up their arguments for the coming fight over the future of the liquified natural gas industry.
- Can Biden Really Protect Abortion Seekers From Arrest Under Trump?: A mass preemptive pardon would not come without risks, some legal experts say.
A Split Scene at SCOTUS
On Wednesday, American Civil Liberties Union attorney Chase Strangio became the first openly transgender lawyer to argue before SCOTUS. And after exiting the court, he was met by two large crowds: one full of trans people and allies chanting and carrying signs in support of trans rights, and another crowd protesting those rights.
“You guys, I love you,” Strangio told the supportive side of the crowd after speaking on behalf of three trans teens in the U.S. v. Skrmetti case. “I’ve been doing a lot of compartmentalizing for so many weeks, it’s all going to come flooding out!”
“We are here with our ancestors, and we’re here with the people who will come after us … We are collectively a refutation of everything they say about us.” he said.
The smaller counterprotest that also gathered outside of the court in support of bans on gender-affirming care. The Tennessee lawmaker who wrote the ban spoke, as did Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who opposes trans rights. Greene’s speech was largely drowned out by boos from the protest supportive of trans rights, CNN reported.
—Oriana González | Read the story here.
Post Office Palooza
As the likely next top Democrat on Judiciary, Rep. Jamie Raskin has a lot on his mind: his successor on Oversight, Pam Bondi’s confirmation hearing and the Hunter Biden pardon, to name a few.
But on Tuesday, there was another pressing issue he needed to address: naming post offices.
“That’s causing a lot of rancor, it’s causing a lot of division. We don’t want this whole thing to blow up,” he told NOTUS’ Katherine Swartz.
As it turns out, naming post offices has been one of the major legacies of the 118th Congress. By Wednesday, bills renaming post offices comprised a third of all the laws passed this term. But the failure to get the entire Texas delegation to cosponsor renaming a post office after a World War II veteran caused some heartburn on the House floor. As did Rep. Andy Harris’ opposition to naming a post office after former Rep. Elijah Cummings, a fellow Marylander.
“We don’t want it to be said that this is the first Congress in decades that can’t even name a post office after someone,” Raskin said.
“That will plunge us into a race of mutually assured, postal-naming destruction that’s not going to benefit anybody in this body.”
Who knew?
Number You Should Know
20.9 billion
That’s the amount of cubic feet of natural gas exported per day in 2023, marking a record for the U.S. As NOTUS’ Anna Kramer reports, natural gas exports increased dramatically since Joe Biden took office, setting a high bar for the Trump administration that’s pledged to further boost that number.
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.
- How Robert Lighthizer Got Shut Out of Trump’s Cabinet by Brian Schwartz at The Wall Street Journal
- She Was a Russian Socialite and Influencer. Cops Say She’s a Crypto Laundering Kingpin by Matt Burgess at Wired
- Six hours under martial law in Seoul by Sarah Jeong at The Verge
Be Social
Joni Ernst apparently has more than SecDef on her mind…
Are you looking to build a gingerbread house this Christmas but worried it will fall over?
— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) December 4, 2024
Don't worry!
The federal government spent $150,000 studying which way a gingerbread cookie crumbles.
This half-baked idea is a textbook example of waste that needs to be cut by @DOGE. pic.twitter.com/FwlA4feRlv
Tell Us Your Thoughts
What would you name a post office if you could?
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